Skype

Skype is trying something new, and we wanted to find out what it’s
all about. Do you use Skype in your classroom—or have considered it? Then you might enjoy this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers.

We were intrigued when we saw “Skype in the classroom: A free directory that connects teachers and helps them use Skype to enrich students’ educational experience.”

When we saw that George Mayo was involved, we asked him to come explain
what the project is trying to do. As he explained:

I was one of many teachers Skype talked
with. They are basically trying to set up a network for teachers who are
using, or want to use Skype in their classrooms. The site is still in
Beta I believe. It’s a great idea. I can also talk about how we just
recently used Skype for our documentary project in my middle school
classroom. We were able to Skype in and record about 15 different
experts in different topics for our 18 different documentaries we are
currently making. It would be interesting to hear what other teachers
are doing with Skype.

We were also joined on this podcast by Brianna Reynaud. As the Senior PR Manager for Skype
in the Americas, Ms. Reynaud works “with media, bloggers and other
organizations to spread the word about Skype across the region.” To get a
sense of Brianna, check out a few of her recent twitter posts:

A big shoutout to the K12online live events committee for their wonderful work during the conference and their continued support in the Echoes at EdTechTalk. Susan van Gelder, Kim Cofino, Peggy George. You can find more info about the K12 Online Conference by joining our Ning.

Happy Valentine's Day! Today, we discussed skyping in the classroom and posting student work on blogs. We discussed ways we have used skype to connect with other classrooms; reading to others, sharing via video, and more. When posting student's work to their own blog, do they post their best or show a work in progress? (This conversation stemmed from the Feb. 11, 2010 SEEDlings show.) Does all work get published? What about the varying abilities within the class? We missed Lisa this week as she was on vacation, but she will be back next week.

I have been fortunate to participate in a number of blended workshop presentations where I am live with a group and members of the EdTech Community join in virtually. Yesterday I had 3 sessions and Jeff Lebow and Lee Baber joined and contributed. Arvind came in for one (for some reason people from NYC have great credibility). I think this is a powerful support that the community can offer individuals who are trying to bring Web 2.0 tools and practices to their school communities. We are never a prophet in our own land but when my participants heard the voice of Lee echo in the room as she described her work and Jeff L. talked about the communities that have been grown out of WB, they paid attention. I felt like my credibiltiy went up. The glazed eyes of people lost in the terms and concepts became more alert listening to the powerful stories.

I think this has potential as a model and resource to people who are trying to start this work in their schools and districts. As we go forward, maybe we can articulate and package this type of work so that others in and outside our community may use this as a professional development opportunity.

EdTechTalk Diigo

Who's online

There are currently 0 users and 12 guests online.

Do you have your EdTechTalk stuff yet? Did you know there are T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, buttons, magnets, and tote bags available? They're all based on Wordle interpretations of the EdTechTalk Delicious tags.

What are you waiting for? These are limited edition items. Shop now and avoid the rush!